I'm thinking of getting into Aikido, but am not totally committed yet. It seems like there are hundreds of dojos here in the SF bay area and I'm having trouble deciding where to try.

Since I'm just putting my toe in the water so far, I wondered if someone could give me advice on one particular class: the Central YMCA offers free classes (with a YMCA membership, about $50/month which is cheaper than the dojo classes I've seen around). Has anyone taken these classes?

Also, as a more general question, what broad factors should I be looking out for when evaluating a dojo as a total newbie?

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